Airless paint sprayers are the way to go whenever you’re covering lots of ground. They’re the only practical solution for dealing with walls and ceilings, whether inside or outside the house. They’re also ideal for tackling staining projects on decks, fences, and the like.

The best thing about shopping for an airless paint sprayer is that you’ve got lots and lots of options. There are models for absolutely everybody on the market, from ambitious weekend warriors to demanding contractors. The downside of all that variety is that it’s quite hard to know which models to actually buy, and to tell what the key differences are!

In this guide, we’ll show you our favorite airless paint sprayers for any application or skill level. You’ll find recommendations to suit any need, as well as practical buying advice to help you choose your ideal tool.

Best Airless Paint Sprayer Reviews (2019)

Graco Magnum X5

Graco’s Magnum X5 is the model we recommend to most DIYers and weekend warriors. It’s a complete airless paint sprayer system, but it won’t put much of a dent in your bank balance. You can easily tackle entire rooms with this one and save quite a lot of money compared to hiring a pro!

Why We Love The X5

Unlike most DIY systems, the X5 has adjustable pressure. Quite frankly, we don’t think there’s any point using a system that doesn’t have adjustable pressure. You’re just selling yourself short and asking for problems. This one is easy for the DIYer to control, thanks to the convenient adjustment knob.

Since it has a full stainless steel piston pump, the X5 can handle unthinned paint. That’s not just a marketing claim, either. Most models at this price say they can handle unthinned paint but struggle to actually spray it. The X5 lives up to the claim and then some! That saves you lots of time on thinning and respraying. You can spray directly from the bucket, like the pros do.

It’s very affordable for DIYers. You can buy one of these for well under $500. You could easily spend that much to have a pro paint a single room, so the value factor is hard to overstate. As long as you paint a few rooms in the time you own it, the X5 pays for itself.

The whole system is nice and friendly for the DIYer who may not have much experience using a paint sprayer. Everything’s intuitive and clearly marked. Cleaning the system is particularly easy, since you can hook it up to a garden hose! We also love that you can use the reversible spray tips to blast out clogs and keep working.

It’ll take you right to the limit of what most casual DIYers need. The X5 supports up to 75 feet of hose–as much as any DIYer would ever need. It’s rated to 125 gallons per year, and will handle any coating your average DIYer needs to spray.

This is much more reliable than other DIY-grade models, especially in its price class.

We recommend the X5 to the average DIYer who wants to be able to tackle interior walls and ceilings, as well as outdoor stain projects, with no fuss. If you want to do larger projects on the exterior, or an entire house, you may want to spend a bit more for the X7 below!

Graco Magnum X7

The Graco Magnum X7 is our recommendation to the ambitious DIYer who doesn’t want to feel limited by their paint sprayer. It’s a slightly larger setup than the X5, but the main difference is that it’s cart-mounted. This thing can handle absolutely anything a DIYer could need to do, right up to and including painting a whole house–inside and out!

Why We Love The X7

The Magnum X7 includes all the key features we love on the X5:

Adjustable pressure

Stainless steel piston pump

Flexible suction tube so you can work by the bucket

125 gallon-per-year rating

Flush it with a garden hose

Reversible tips

The Magnum X7 takes things to the next level in just about every department, though. It sprays faster than the X5, and has a larger motor to back it up. It can handle .017 tips, as opposed to .015. Plus, it supports up to 100 feet of hose! We can’t imagine why you’d need that kind of length for DIY projects, but the point is that it’s up for any challenge short of professional use.

Having your paint sprayer mounted on a cart is endlessly convenient. We recommend this one for any kind of outdoor work, and it’s worth the extra money if you’re working inside a larger home where you need to move around fairly often. You can hang your bucket right on the cart, which makes the whole setup super easy to move around.

This is for the DIYer who doesn’t want any limits–the sort of person who wants to repaint their whole house without hiring somebody to help. Most people don’t need this, but it makes a lot of sense for someone who’s tackling an entire house or always taking on a new project. It’s also the better choice (compared to the X5) for working outside, because of the convenience of having a cart.

Graco Pro210ES

For the commercial user, there’s nothing better than the Pro210ES. We’ve been reviewing paint sprayers for years, and this thing still blows us away–despite the presence of newer models on the market.

Why We Love The Pro210ES

The best thing about it is the replaceable pumps. Graco have developed a swappable pump system that’s not a gimmick, unlike most other manufacturers. You can quickly and easily replace the pump on your unit without any technical assistance or even needing any extra tools! The whole thing takes minutes and only involves 4 steps. There aren’t even any loose components to lose on the site!

It’s an absolute beast, too. The rugged cart can handle any jobsite and easily handles a 5-gallon bucket. The motor is large enough to handle the biggest spray tips, so much so that you can crank out nearly half a gallon per minute!

When you’re paid to paint, you want this! It’s expensive, but the Pro210ES is a great investment for your business. We don’t know of any reliability issues with this model. Aside from having to replace your pumps periodically, you ought to get years of daily use out of this thing.

Graco Ultra Max

We never used to recommend the UltraMax series with confidence. In fact, we thought of them as a gimmick. That was disappointing, because having a cordless airless paint sprayer sounded brilliant. The latest model finally lives up to the promise of cordless airless paint sprayers, so we’re excited to be able to recommend it!

Why We Love The UltraMax

It’s reliable, and that’s a key departure from the earlier models! They used to break pretty much instantly. This new one doesn’t have any serious issues, as far as we know, and being able to replace the pumps and batteries gives it much better longevity.

It’s super convenient. Cordless functionality makes it even more convenient than the cheaper handhelds on the market. You can use this absolutely anywhere, and at any angle. It’s hard to put a price on that!

It is technically airless, unlike most other handhelds. The differences are obvious from the first spray. You don’t have to thin latex for the Graco, and that’s not true of any other handheld model we’ve reviewed.

Since it put out up to a 12” spray fan, you can actually work quite quickly with this one. At the same time, you don’t lose control over your workpiece.

The Graco UltraMax is good for small applications like moulding, cabinetry, and so forth where convenience and precision are key, but where HVLP doesn’t make sense.

What’s Next

To learn more about any of the airless paint sprayers featured in this guide, click on the links above! Not sure whether airless is the right approach for you? Learn more about your options and compare these models with our other recommendations by visiting our homepage.